Kindergartenbesuch und späterer Bildungserfolg

This paper analyses the impact of attending kindergarten, the most common early childhood care and education program in West Germany, on children’s placement at secondary school level. The analysis is based on an education production function that controls for parental background and regional variation in the educational system. The analysis confirms the hypothesis, that kindergarten attendance can have a long-lasting positive effect on educational chances. In four of six specifications a longer attendance of early childhood care and education increases the probability of attending a higher level secondary school. However, there are diminishing returns to early childhood education.     

Further Education of Higher Education Graduates — the More,the Better?

In times of rapid technological and organisational change, it is argued that lifelong further education becomes more and more important for labour market success. Especially in labour market segments for the highly qualified, it is essential to constantly update one's qualifications. This is reflected in the finding that graduates with tertiary education are closely involved in further training measures at the beginning of their life courses. Almost all take part in at least one further training measure in the first five years after graduation. The further education strategies of higher education graduates, however, vary greatly in terms of frequency of participation, duration of measures, financing of the measure and the type of skills acquired. Using a German graduate panel which traces a sample of graduates up to five years after they obtained their degree in 1997 (HIS Absolventenpanel), we analyse which of these strategies are most successful in terms of wages. Using random effect panel models, we find — controlling for a variety of other factors — that the frequency of participation in further education only has a significant positive influence on male graduates' wages. Moreover, it is mainly measures paid exclusively by the employer and courses directed at personality development, i.e. management skills, which have substantial wage premiums.     

Students’ Conceptions About ‘Radiation’: Results from an Explorative Interview Study of 9th Grade Students

One basis of good teaching is to know about your students?? preconceptions. Studies about typical ideas that students bring to the science classroom have been and continue to be a major field in science education research. This study aims to explore associations and ideas that students have regarding ??radiation??, a term widely used in various fields and necessary to understand fundamental ideas in science. In an explorative study, the perceptions of 50 high school students were examined using semi-structured interviews. The students were 14?C16?years old and were chosen from 7 different high schools in an urban area in Austria. Following an interview guideline, students were asked about their general associations with the term ??radiation?? as well as about their general understanding of different types of radiation. A qualitative analysis of these interviews following the method of Flick (2009) revealed that the students?? associations were, to a great extent, very different from the scientific use of the term. Several conceptions that could inhibit students?? learning processes could be identified. Consequences for the teaching of the topic ??radiation?? in science lessons, which are based on these preconceptions, are presented in the conclusion.     

Fostering Social Participation in Inclusive Classrooms of Students who are Deaf

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that children with hearing impairment are at higher risk regarding their social participation in school compared to their hearing peers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social participation of 7th Grade students with hearing impairment in inclusive classrooms. Data from 62 7th Grade students across three classrooms and teachers were collected via paper-and-pencil questionnaires and from regular and special needs teachers via interviews. Results from the single case studies in three classrooms indicate that students with hearing impairment feel less socially integrated and less accepted by their peers. They do, however, interact more with other students with special needs and most students with hearing impairment have friends in their class. Teachers evaluated social integration, acceptance, interaction and friendships of their students with hearing impairment as average or as above average. The teachers’ evaluations only partly correspond to the self-perceptions of the students. Factors that either promote or hinder participation on an institutional, teacher, teaching and student level were exposed, which may have important practice and policy implications.     

Writing reviews: perspectives from the editors of Educational Studies in Mathematics

Educational Studies in Mathematics -     

Supporting medical decision making with argumentation tools

This study investigated the collaborative decision-making and communicative discourse of groups of learners engaged in a simulated medical emergency in two conditions. In one condition subgroups used a traditional whiteboard (TW group) to document medical arguments on how to solve a medical emergency. In the other condition subgroups used interactive whiteboards (IW group) where they could document their medical arguments by using a structured template for constructing, annotating and sharing arguments. The discourse of each group was coded with respect to decision-making and communicative activities. The research goal was to identify relationships between the decision-making and collaborative discourse under the two conditions. The IW condition differed from the TW condition in that participants engaged in more adaptive decision-making behavior early on in the intervention. This early engagement led to shared understandings and subsequently to more effective patient management. Group differences were also found in the types of collaborative discourse and the IW groups produced more productive argumentation.     

Suggestions for Vocabulary Focused Reading Lessons for Mainstream Classrooms Addressing Both L1 and L2 Learners

The increasing number of second language learners in classrooms all around the world has required teachers to adapt their teaching methods and materials to the various learners’ needs. Second language learners in particular need specific learning strategies, which not only aim at helping them understand the linguistic structure of the language of instruction, but also enable them to remember and comprehend the many different words in this “foreign” language. For second language learners, developing reading skills and improving language abilities need to go hand in hand independent of the language. This article presents suggestions for reading lessons emphasizing vocabulary for both first and second language learners of various linguistic backgrounds. These suggestions are especially useful for reading lessons in mainstream second and third grade classrooms. Approaches to vocabulary building are discussed with particular focus on aspects to be considered for vocabulary selection (e.g. linguistic aspects); followed by recommendations on the instruction of the selected vocabulary. All the presented suggestions are based on materials developed in the context of a project in Austria, hence in a German speaking environment. Applicability of these suggestions for other languages is emphasized.     

CONTENT FOR TEACHING SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS IN PHYSICS AT UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

Understanding energy with a focus on sustainable development requires further knowledge beyond traditional conceptual understanding. This paper presents the result from one main investigation and two smaller follow-up studies. The main study (step 1) consists of an interpreting, iterative analysis of statements made by experts on contents for physics education on energy with focus on sustainable energy systems gathered from a questionnaire, which results in subject-specific contents for physics teaching presented as a category system of objectives. The categories from step 1 are used as means for analyses in steps 2 and 3, which involve the study of educational material and one physics class. The results show that the content of physics for upper secondary, in order for students to reach insight, should comprise certain physical concepts and relations not only in ‘limited contexts’ but also in relation to greater contextual connections, in which problematisation and insight in solutions for the future is necessary. These parts should have a similar weight according to the statements of the experts. This is not to be found in either the typical educational material (textbooks) or in one physics class, which has been studied.